Automatic tripping mechanism for steam-shovels.



F. S. WTOHMAN. AUTOMATIC TRI-PFING MECHANISM FOR SHOV ELS.

APPLIUATION FILED SEPT. 28 1909. 980,37

Patented Jan. 8,1911;

2 SKBETB-SEEET 1.

[NVENTOR W re. h m Q n 'F. S. WIGHMAN. AUTQMATIG IRIPPINS MEGHANISM FOR STEAM SHO'VELS.

APPLIGATIQN FILED SEPT. 28; 1909 Patented Jan. 3, 191 1.

sedate. I,

' UNITED srntl ns PATENT onrion.

FRANK S. WIGHMAN, OF CULEBRA, PANAMA.

snroivrarrrornrrrrne MECHANISM FOR srna a snovnns.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 3, 1911.

v i Applicatibn filed September 28, 1909. Serial 110.519,!919.

Twill iii/win it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK S. WICHMAN, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Culebra, Canal Zone, Panama, have 1nvented certain new and useful Improvements in =Automatic Tripping hlechanism for Steam Shovels or Dredges; and I do hereby declare the following tobe a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will en- .able-othersslrilled in the artto which it ap- {pertains to make and use the same.

' invention relates to new and useful improvements in automatic tripping mechanism l5. ing' the door, which closes one end of the dipfor steam shovels or dre'dges and my object is to provide means for automatically openperor shovel of the machine "A further object is to attach a cable to the door opening mechanism whereby the same may be released at a point a distance from the door. 7

A further object is to retain the cable in a taut state and prevent the same from sagging asthe shovel is moved toward or from the supporting boom or crane therefor.

*A further object is to provide means for iving a pu to that portion of the cable v cdnnected to the door opening mechanism whereby the door will be released and per-- mitted to open, anda further object is to provide means for causing the parts employed for moving the cable lengthwise to "release the door, to automatically operate to move the cable.

Other objects and advantages will be hereinafter referred to and more particularly pointed out in the claims. v e In the accompanying drawings. forming part of this application," Figure 1 is a side elev'ation of the boom end Of'it steamshovel and operating mechanism therefor, showing my improved device attached thereto. Fig.

2 isa detail elevation of the winding drum for the cable and the parts employed for moviiig the cable to release the door of the shovel. on line 5+5, Fig. 2. Fig. at is a sectional view as seen plan view of the engine shaft to which the cableoperating mechanism is attached, and, Fig. 6 is a sectional view Referring to the drawings in which similar referencenumerals designate correspondf parts throughout the several views, 1 in- FigLSis a sectional view as seen on line 4+4, Fig.9. Fig. 5 is a y of a push piston.

employed for giving a pull on the cable to release, the latch.

dicates a boom such as'is usually employed- 111 connection Vltll a steam shovel or dredge,

which boom is suitably mounted upon a frame 2. i

()peratively mounted upon the boom 1 in the usual or any preferred manner is a shovel or dipper 3, which is operated through the medium of the usual form of handle 4, said handle being'employed for moving the shovel toward or from the boom, the shovel being raised or lowered by means of chains or cables 5, as is the (usual practice.

At the lower end of the shovel 3 ,is a door 6, which is adapted to close the lowerend of the shovel to retain the particles gathered thereby and in order to provide means for readily emptying the shovel withouttilting the same, the door is mounted upon hinges 7, whereby the door may be'swung from below the shovel and the contents of the shovel emptied, said door. being held in, its closed position by means of any suitable form of latch mechanism 8 and in order to operate the latch to release the door while the shovel is in an elevated position, a cable 9 is attached to one 'end of the latch mechanism, and extended to a point, on the boom adjacent the position of an engine 10 employed to operate the handle.

The handle 4 is operated to move the shovel toward or from the end of the boom by providing any suitable form of rack (not shown) and engaging the same with a pinion on a shaft 11, said shaft being operated from the engine 10 through the medium of a gear 12 anda pinion 19 and as said shovel is moved toward or from the boom, of sufficient length to extend fron the boom to the shovel when said shovel is extended at its greatest distance from the boom is required and it will be readily seen that in view of thisifact, the cable would sag when the shovel was in position adjacent the boom and to this end I'have provided means for retaining the cable in a taut position at all times. This result is accomplished by attaching to the gear 12 or forming integral therewith, adrum 13, to which one end of the cable is attached, the end of the cable being introduced through an opening in the face of the drum and engaged with a tie block 14 and as the drum rotateswith the gear 12 it will be readily seen that the cable a cable whatever: position the shovel may be in. In

ariipunt of pulling strain to release the latch 8 as the drum is the same in diameter as the pinion used to operate the scoop handle, consequently windln or unwinding co-incident-.tol'the; travel 0 the handle.

passage to its connection'with the latch is exten ed around a sheave'15, which sheave is mounted upon a wrist pin 16 carried by a crank arm 17, said crank arm being in turn rotatably mounted upona stub shaft 18, which is formed integral with the engine shaft 19, and on vsaid engine shaft is mounted the pinion 1-9,, which is fixed to the shaft by meansof a key 20, which key is entered into suitable seats in the shaft and pinion. Also formed integral with the end of the shaft 19' or attached thereto by any suitable means and projecting beyond the outer face of the pinion is a lug .21, said lug beingconcentric with the stub shaft 18,

which lug fis adapted; to engage a groove on clutch-22in. the inner face of'the pivoted end of thecrankarm' 17 and by .moving the clutch intoengagement with the lug the crankarm andpart's carried thereby, will be caused to rotatewith the shaft 19'.

The sheave 15 and supporting arm therefor normally rest in the position shown by dotted-lines at-23 inFig. 2, but when itis desired to release thedoor of the shovel, the crank arm 17 is moved inwardly-toward the face of the pinioni-19 and-the clutch -22 engaged with theE-lug 21 and as said lug and shaft to whichsthe same is attached, are rotated, the sheave 15a'nd crank arm are ro tated' with theshaftaway from the position shown in dottedlines and moved to the position shown inlfull lines in said Fig. 2 and" as the drum-I3 is held:against-"inverse rotation, that portion of the cable'9 extending from the sheave to. the latch 8, is given a rearward pull, thereby releasing the latch and permittingthe door to swing open.

,The clutch and crank arm are operated through the medium of a bell crank lever 24, the'verticalarm of which is bifurcated and provided with pins 25', which enteragroove 26 in the periphery of the socket-portion of the crank arm'1-7, while the horizontally extending arm of the lever 24 has attached thereto a dependingrod 27 and as the bell crank lever 24: is pivoted-to the bracket 28, which bracket is in turn carried by the boom 1, an upward thrust ofthe rod-27 will move-the clutch into engagement with, the lug 21 and operate the crank arm and sheave mounted thereon.

mounted onparts of the boom frame 1, one end {of the lever engaging the-rod 27 and In order to release the latch, however, the cable onits tended, sai

pensed with and-the cylinder 33 mounted- 'upon the frame-of-t-he boom 1, or other lower end of the rod 27 is attached. to a hand lever 30, which lever is pivotally it will lbe readily seen that moving the windin the cable in thismannerto take up i slack, t 1e cable will not receive a suflicient free end of the lever downwardly, the rod 27 will be given anupward thrust and the clutch moved into en agement with the l I at the end of the engine shaft.

As soon as the pressure on the-lever is released, the 'weight'of the rod 27 will im- -mediately release the clutch from the ln whereupon the weight of the cable 9 wil immediately return the pinion and crank arm to their initial upward'position and while in this. position, the cable-ma be freely wound and unwound from the rum 8 without releasing the latch on the scoop 4.

In Fig. 6 of the drawings I have shown a different means for moving the cable lengthwise to release the latch -8,- which means comprises a pushpiston 31, which is bifurcated at its outer end to receive a sheave 32, around which the cable 9 is 'expiston being slidably mounted in a cylinder 33 and has attached to its inner end the usual or any preferred form of piston head 34. The steam pipe 35 is connected to the closed end of the cylinder 33 and extends to the feed pipe of the enginelO, so that whenit is desired to operate the latch toreleasethe door, steam is entered into the pipe and into engagement with the piston ;head 34, forcing\ the same outwardl and zmovingthe cable 9 lengthwise a su cient distance to operate the latch, an escape port:

36 being provided at a suitable point in the cylinder to permit the stea1nto escape as soon as .the outward stroke of the cylinder- 1'00 has been completed.

As soon as the latch,

has been released, the steam is turned .ofi'-;

from the pipe 35, whereby the-piston will be immediately returned to its initial position by means 'of a spring 37, which spring sur"- rounds the piston rod 31 betweenthe end of the cylinder 33 and the piston head 34. When this form of device is used, the crank arm 17 and sheave ,carried thereby are suitable location and the cylinder portiondrum, upon; which the cable is to be wound, and when steam is enteredinto the cylinder, the sheave 32 will be moved away from the drum. Instead, hOWevejr, ,-Of,giving a thrust to the piston to operatefwthe cable, the cylinder may be turned end for end and the 7 piston normally extended, whereupon apnll 23 will be required to move the cable lengthwise to release the latch, in which. instance the steam pipe is entered into. the cylinder at the opposite end thereof, so that when steam is entered therein, the piston 31 will be moved into the cylinder and in this instance, the spring is to be mounted directly into thecylinder and on the opposite side of the piston head from that shown in Fig. 6.

It will thus be seen that I have provided ce ars a i'nechanism for retaining the cable nor mally taut while the shovel. is being operated and moved toward and from its supporting boom and one thatcan be attached to any make of steam shovel or dipper dredge and it will be likewiseseen that I have provided suitable means for automatically releasing the door ot the shovel when it is desired to empty the contents ot the shovel. i I

It will be noted that in the above description, I have used steam for the motive power, but I do not limit myself to this form and may use any other form. of power de sirable.

\Vhat I claim is:

-1. In a tripping mechanism for shovels, the combination with a boom, a shovel operatively mounted thereon, a gear and drum operating with thedriving means for said shovel, a sheave and crank arm carried by ashaft on said driving means and a cable passed over said sheave, the ends thereof being engaged with said drum. and. shovel, respectively; of a clutch on said crank arm, a lug on said driving ineansand means to throw said clutch into engagement with said lug, whereby said crank arm and sheave will be rotated.

The combination with an engine shaft and stub shaft carried thereon, said engine shaft also having :1 lug thereon; of a crank arm mounted on said stub shaft, a sheave mounted on said arm and cooperating with a drum and shove], said arm also having a clutch thereon and means to move said clutch into engagement with said lug, comprising a bracket, a bell crank lever pivoted to said bracket, said lever also being bifurcated and secured to said crank arm and a depending rod secured to the free end of said lever, whereby when said rod is moved upwardly, said clutch is engaged and the crank arm and sheave rotated with the engine shaft.

8. In a device of the character described, the combination Witha boom, a shovel operativ'ely mounted thereon, and driving means for said shovel; of atripping mechanism comprising a cable having one end thereof secured to said shovel, a drum mounted on said boom to which the opposite end of said cable is secured, -a sheave engaging said cable between said drum and shoveha crank arm carried by a shaft on said driving means, said crank arm having said sheave mounted thereon, a clutch on said crank arm, a lug on said driving means and means to engage said clutch with said lug, whereby said crank arm and sheave will be moved in the arc of a circle.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

FRANK S. VVICHMAN.

lVitnesses DUANE T. MGNABB, K. DAVITT. 

